One more win. That is all men's volleyball needs to reach the .500 plateau for the first time this season.
With a victory over East Stroudsburg, Princeton upped its record to 8-9 overall (3-4 Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association, Tait Division) and moved a step closer toward finishing the season with a winning record.
The Tigers cruised past the Warriors, decisively claiming the win in four games (30-24, 25-30, 30-23, 30-22).
Freshman outside hitter Blake Robinson had another solid performance for Princeton.
"We set Blake up a lot against East Stroudsburg. Over the four games he had at least 20 kills," head coach Glenn Nelson said.
Last Friday, men's volleyball journeyed to East Stroudsburg, Pa., to begin its stretch run. About a month remains in the volleyball season, and Princeton appears to be in good shape considering all that has happened.
Despite injuries to freshman outside hitter Ryn Burns and junior opposite Dennis Alshuler, the Tigers have won six out of their last nine games.
110 percent
Although Burns has recently returned to the lineup, he is far from being 100 percent. The range of motion in one of his arms remains limited, but seems to be improving with each game.
Nonetheless, Burns has played well for Princeton since returning to action, providing a spark for the Tigers as they head down the home stretch.
"Seeing him [Burns] still get so many kills on the outside amazed me. Ryn is a smart player, and playing on the beaches of Encinitas has taught him that he doesn't need to hit the ball as hard as he can to get a kill. He's really played through his injury," freshman middle hitter Sean Vitousek said.
According to senior middle Scott Dore, Alshuler is expected to return to the lineup either next week or after the break.
An ankle injury has kept Alshuler sidelined for several of Princeton's games this year. After Alshuler returns, the Tigers will have all of its starters back in the rotation.
Against East Stroudsburg, Princeton once again had to play people out of position due to injury.
"Unfortunately, we are not yet back to full strength.
"As a result, Scott [Dore], our former starting middle, has been moved to opposite and I have taken over his spot in the middle," Vitousek said.
"Scott is an all-around great player, but he is at his best in the middle because of his quickness."
Locked away
Fortunately, the Tigers were able to overcome this problem and come away with an important victory, though there was still room for improvement.
"I was satisfied with our performance in the sense that we came out of there with a victory. My concern though is our ability to close the door on teams," Dore said.
In the past, Princeton has had some trouble maintaining its intensity against opponents, especially after building a lead.
"After convincingly winning a game against a weaker opponent, we tend to relax a bit and that's what happened on Friday. We won the first game and coasted through the second game and ended up losing it.
"We then had to step it up in the last two games, which we did. East Stroudsburg is a team that we should sweep in three games, but it took four games on Friday," Dore said.
"Although our play in East Stroudsburg was far less than satisfactory, hopefully we'll have the drive to never let that happen again," Vitousek said.
Gordon
Up next for the Tigers is a rematch with St. Francis on Mar. 15.
Princeton swept the Red Flash back on Feb. 16, and needs a repeat performance to achieve its goal of being seeded in the top five at the all-important Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball tournament.
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